WVC 31 A- 2 - 5
§31A-2-5. Certificate or license to engage in business; filing of
amendments to charter, bylaws and foreign statutes.
(a) No person shall engage or continue in the business of a
financial institution in this state without a license or
certificate to do so issued in accordance with this section, or
other applicable law, which license or certificate remains
unsuspended, unexpired and unrevoked except that a corporation
which proposes to apply for such license or certificate may secure
its charter, adopt bylaws, elect its directors and officers and
perfect its organization.

(b) No person shall operate an office in West Virginia which
regularly makes consumer loans in this state other than first
mortgage loans unless they are a financial institution, licensed
pawnbroker or a federally insured depository institution authorized
and qualified to do business in this state. The purchase of
consumer paper does not constitute the making of consumer loans for
the purposes of this subsection, unless the purchase is made by a
business affiliated with the credit provider pursuant to a standing
arrangement.

(c) Application for such license or certificate shall be upon
such forms and contain such information as the Commissioner may
prescribe. In connection with such applications every corporate
financial institution shall file a certified copy of its charter
and bylaws, a statement as to the amount of capital that has been
subscribed and paid in and a statement of its financial condition duly verified under oath by its president or vice president and its
cashier or secretary as the case may be and every financial
institution other than a corporation shall file a verified
statement of its financial condition.

(d) If the application be that of a West Virginia state
banking institution, the Commissioner of Banking shall examine the
information, documents and statements submitted and, if he or she
finds that such banking institution has adopted bylaws which
provide practical, safe, just and equitable rules and methods for
the management of its business and it has complied in all respects
with the provisions of this chapter and other applicable laws, he
or she shall issue to it a certificate or license permitting it to
engage in business. If the application be that of a financial
institution other than a banking institution, the Commissioner of
Banking shall examine the information, documents and statements
submitted and, if he or she finds that such financial institution
has adequate resources for the proposed business and has provided
practical, safe, just and equitable rules and methods for the
management of its business, and it has complied in all respects
with the provisions of this chapter and other applicable laws, and
that the public convenience and advantage will be promoted by the
issuance of a certificate or license thereto, he or she shall issue
to it a certificate or license permitting it to engage in business.
Such certificate or license shall be preserved and the original or
copy thereof displayed in all the places of business of such banking or other financial institution located in this state.

(e) In addition to the requirements of subsections (b) and (c)
of this section, every foreign corporation applying for a license
or certificate to engage in the business of a financial institution
in this state, other than an out-of-state banking institution,
shall file with the Commissioner of Banking a copy of the bylaws
under which it operates, together with a cite to the statutes of
the jurisdiction where it is organized which pertain to its
organization and powers and the conduct of its business. The
commissioner shall examine the information, documents and
statements submitted by such foreign corporation and if he or she
finds that they provide practical, safe, just and equitable rules
and methods for the management of the business of the corporation,
that it has adequate resources for the proposed business and it has
complied in all respects with the provisions of this chapter and
other applicable laws and that the public convenience and advantage
will be promoted by the issuance of a license or certificate
thereto, he or she shall issue to such corporation a certificate or
license permitting it to engage in business in this state, which
certificate or license shall authorize such corporation to engage
in the business of the type of financial institution specified
therein, until the thirtieth day of the following June. Thereafter
a new certificate or license shall be secured annually by any such
foreign corporation, except where annual renewal of the license or
certificate is specifically not required for the type of institution involved. The fee for the original and each additional
license or certificate issued to a foreign corporation shall be one
hundred dollars, unless otherwise provided by statute. A verified
statement of the financial condition of every such foreign
corporation shall be filed with the Commissioner before the
issuance of each annual certificate or license. Such certificate
or license shall be preserved and the original or copy thereof
displayed in the West Virginia place of business of such
corporation.

(f) Unless the institution is a federally insured depository
institution or it is otherwise provided for by statute, a new
certificate or license shall be secured annually by all domestic
state financial institutions and the fee for the original and each
additional license or certificate shall be one hundred dollars.

(g) No amendment of the charter or bylaws of any domestic or
foreign corporation, other than an out-of-state banking
institution, engaging in business in this state as a financial
institution shall become effective until the proposed change shall
have been submitted to and approved by the Commissioner of Banking;
but, if the Commissioner does not disapprove such proposed change
within twenty days after it is received by him or her, it shall be
deemed to have been approved.

(h) Unless specifically provided for by this chapter, nothing
contained in this code shall authorize any person to engage in the
banking business in this state except corporations chartered to conduct a banking business under the laws of West Virginia and
which hold a license or certificate to do so issued under this
section, limited liability companies organized to conduct a banking
business under the laws of West Virginia and which hold a license
or certificate to do so under this section or associations
authorized to conduct a banking business in West Virginia under the
laws of the United States and having their principal place of
business in this state.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2014 1st Special Session
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